Hilka Birns is an award-winning journalist with the Swiss-based global airline news and business intelligence service, ch-aviation, for which she primarily covers Africa, the Indian and Pacific Ocean Islands and North America.

Cape Town-based Hilka has nearly four decades of experience in television news, newswire, and specialist aviation, travel and tourism media.

After a successful career covering politics and breaking hard news, Hilka focused on the air transport, travel and tourism sector, initially as the Johannesburg editor of TTG Southern Africa, then as the Managing Editor of the title and its successor, Travel Industry Review. She was subsequently the Cape Town editor for Now Media’s Travel News Weekly, Southern & East Africa Tourism Update and Business Now. For several years, Hilka was also the Southern Africa correspondent for Flight International Her articles have also been published in numerous business journals and magazines.